Indonesia FOLU Net Sink 2030

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030 targets a -140 MtCO2e land-sector sink by 2030. What it is, how it is implemented and what it means for carbon projects.

FOLU Net Sink 2030 is Indonesia’s goal for its forestry and other land use (FOLU) sector to become a net carbon sink by 2030, absorbing about 140 million tonnes of CO2e more than it emits in that year (a net sink of -140 MtCO2e). It is the main sector strategy behind Indonesia’s NDC, and it explains why the government keeps tight control over forest carbon units.

What it is

The target turns the land sector from Indonesia’s largest historic emitter into a net absorber. Emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, peat drainage and peat fires have dominated the national inventory. The net sink goal asks that, by 2030, removals from growing forests, restored land and rewetted peat outweigh those emissions.

The government set out an operational plan in a 2022 ministerial decree issued by the then Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK). Since October 2024, forestry policy sits with the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut). Environmental control and the carbon registry sit with the Ministry of Environment (KLH) and its agency BPLH. Check which ministry now owns each workstream before relying on an older document. For a short definition, see the FOLU Net Sink glossary entry.

Who it applies to

FOLU Net Sink is a government target, not a direct obligation on companies. It reaches the private sector through:

• Licensing: forest utilisation licences (PBPH) and land-use approvals are shaped by the net sink goal.
• Protection rules: the permanent moratorium on new licences in primary forest and peat and the peat protection rules limit conversion.
• Carbon trading rules: Permenhut 6/2026 sets how forestry carbon units are generated and traded.
• Community schemes: social forestry and customary forests are expected to help deliver restoration and protection.

What it requires and changes

The operational plan is widely described as covering a set of mitigation actions, including:

• reducing deforestation and forest degradation;
• sustainable forest management and improved logging practices;
• forest restoration and enrichment planting;
• peat restoration and improved peat water management;
• mangrove protection and rehabilitation;
• fire prevention;
• conservation of high-value forest.

The detailed split of actions, areas and provincial targets is in the official plan. We do not reproduce figures here that we have not checked. Read the text on the Ministry of Forestry website.

For carbon markets, the key consequence is that forest tonnes are a scarce national asset. The government needs them for its own target. Every unit exported with a corresponding adjustment makes the net sink harder to report. This is one reason Indonesia has moved slowly on authorising forest credits for export, and why the IETA policy paper describes international carbon finance to Indonesia as having stalled after earlier NDC-alignment rules.

What it means for developers and buyers

Developers whose projects match FOLU Net Sink actions (ARR on degraded land, avoided deforestation, peat rewetting, mangrove restoration) are aligned with government priorities. That helps with approvals and local support. It does not guarantee the right to sell every tonne abroad. Plan for domestic recording in SRUK and for a possible split between domestic and international buyers.

Buyers should understand that Indonesian forest credits sit inside a national target. A credit without a corresponding adjustment is, in national accounting terms, also part of Indonesia’s FOLU sink. That suits contribution claims and many voluntary uses, but not uses that need an exclusive offset claim under Article 6. See our corresponding adjustments page.

Data matters. The net sink is measured with national forest monitoring and inventory data. Projects that hold good plot data and remote-sensing time series can show how their results reconcile with national figures, which reduces the risk of disputes later. Our dMRV implementation work is designed for that reconciliation.

How the target links to project design

Projects that can show how their activity maps to a named FOLU Net Sink action, such as peat rewetting or restoration of degraded production forest, tend to have an easier dialogue with ministries and provincial governments. Keep that mapping in the project design document.

Open questions

• Progress. Official progress reports on the net sink exist, but we have not verified the latest numbers. Check Ministry of Forestry publications.
• Allocation between national target and exports. There is no published rule we have confirmed on how many forest tonnes may be authorised for export without putting the 2030 goal at risk.
• Post-2030. The Second NDC, prepared in 2025, may extend or reframe the land-sector ambition beyond 2030. Read the UNFCCC submission.
• Institutional changes. The 2024 ministry split moved responsibilities around. Some FOLU Net Sink governance documents predate it.

For a project-specific view of how FOLU Net Sink affects your site, use our project eligibility quiz or start at the Indonesia regulation hub.